Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies R. Danielle Egan has been awarded one of five T. Urling and Mabel Walker Research Fellowships for 2012. The Fellowships are awarded by SUNY Potsdam.

The Walker Fellowship program was established to encourage faculty from the region's 11 institutions of higher education to undertake research on critical issues confronting North Country communities, and to make recommendations for possible solutions. "The College continues to be very fortunate and honored to be able to support extensive research that directly benefits the environment and economy of the North Country through the Walkers' generous endowment," said SUNY Potsdam Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Margaret Madden.

Egan's Fellowship will support research for a project entitled "Native American Girls Make Meaning and Media." The funding will allow her to work with girls between the ages of eight and 14 from the Akwesasne Boys and Girls Club to better understand how they think about gender, media, body image and their identities. Egan plans to encourage gender-positive media literacy and draw on empowerment models to teach the girls how to express themselves.